


The Golden Bear

by Jougetsu



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-25
Updated: 2011-06-25
Packaged: 2017-10-20 17:09:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/215082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jougetsu/pseuds/Jougetsu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Instead of a golden goose Souji received a golden bear</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Golden Bear

Once upon a time in a land far away there was a young man who was sent to live with his uncle in the countryside. The young man was very industrious and hardworking and wished to help his uncle. However his uncle was an attendant, a yoriki, to the ruling clan of the region and the young man, Souji, was too young to enter their service. He asked his uncle what he may do to assist the household and after a fashion his uncle told him that he could cut wood in the forest. They could always use more wood to repair the homestead and the surplus could be sold in town.

His young cousin packed him a meal of soft dumplings and rice wine. “Elder Brother be careful in the wood,” she pleaded. He promised he would.

On the first morning as he went into the wood he passed a young man whose arm was bleeding profusely. “This wood is full of wicked spirits!” the youth proclaimed. Souji helped bandage the young man’s arm and gave him the meal his cousin so lovingly packed. Afterward he went into the forest and cut trees until the sun set.

When he returned home he recounted his tale to his family. His uncle agreed that the forest had long been the subject of rumor, but it seemed to him that the youth had been a victim of inexperience rather than devils. His cousin told him she would back twice as big of meal for him so that he mayn’t go hungry another day. He promised he would eat her meal.

On the second morning he encountered another newly injured youth who warned him, “Beware the old man!” Feeling sorry for the boy, Souji gave him all his food and drink before setting off to do his day’s work. Again when he returned home he told his family what had transpired.

“This time I shall make you a meal three times as big,” declared his cousin. “And you mustn’t give it all away and go hungry.”

He promised he wouldn’t.

On the third day he did not meet anyone upon entering the forest. He cut wood diligently until midday when an old man with a large nose like a tengu hobbled over. “Young man do you have any food to spare for a hungry old man?” asked the man with the tengu nose.

Souji replied that he did and unwrapped the bundle his cousin had given him that morning. Greedily the old man ate the dumplings, the pickled vegetables, and the dried fish leaving not a morsel behind. Then he quaffed the jug of rice wine leaving not a drop behind. All the while the young man sat patiently and did not complain. He thought it sad that the old man must have gone hungry a long while.

The old man smiled at him and said, “You are the first person kind enough to share your food. The others would not, oh no they did not offer this feeble old man anything.” He laughed as though enjoying a private joke before continuing, “If you cut down that tree over there it will bring you good luck.” The old man hobbled away cackling happily to himself, the sound of his laughter echoed through the woods.

Souji dutifully cut down the designated tree however it was so large that the task took hours. When the tree fell it revealed a small bear cub whose fur was of a brilliant golden hue, so beautiful that he might indeed be made of gold. The bear beamed at him as well a bear could beam and declared “How beary nice of you to let me out of this tree!”

The young man asked if the bear knew from whence he came, after all bears could not be born of trees, but the bear did not. He worried what his uncle might say if he brought a strange creature into his home and he did know how to take care of such a wondrous creature. It occurred to him that if he went to the city there might be someone who would know. So he gathered the little cub into his arms and walked until he came to an inn at the edge of the forest where he could stay the night.

The innkeeper had a daughter, named Yukiko, who was fond of stray creatures and she longed to pet and fuss over the cub the quiet young man had brought with him to the inn. Though it would not to do upset a customer thus she waited until Souji was asleep to creep into his room and pet the golden bear. Alas her hand did stick to the bear’s fur and would not come away no matter how she pulled.

The innkeeper’s daughter dearest friend was the cooper’s daughter and the cooper’s daughter Chie wondered where her friend had gone since they had planned to use the inn’s hot springs that evening. She peeked into each room until she found Yukiko. Concerned she entered the room but no sooner than she touched Yukiko’s arm did her hand stick fast to her friend. Both girls were alarmed but struggled to stay quiet lest they awaken Souji and his cub.

Their agonized whispers drew the attention of the samisen instructor’s daughter Rise who was passing by the room. Peering inside her curiosity was peeked by the handsome young man asleep on the futon and the bizarre tableau of Chie holding Yukiko’s arm stuck to a golden bear cub.

“Whatever are you doing?” she inquired entering the room. She touched Chie’s shoulder and soon she too was stuck fast. The girls did not sleep that night as they were distressed by their plight and too overcome with shame to wake the young man.

The next morning Souji took no notice of the three. He was of a practical sort and knew that when magic was afoot there was no helping it. The bear was delighted by the attention and chatted happily to the girls, asking all sorts of questions and complimenting them in turn. After breakfast Souji tucked the bear cub under his arm and began his journey to the city once more though he rather felt sorry for his inadvertent companions.

On the road to the city they met the magistrate’s grandchild Naoto who was perplexed by this odd parade. Intrigued Naoto tapped Rise’s shoulder in order to catch her attention but alas! Another person was ensnared in the magical mess.

“It seems we are unbearably popular,” the cub solemnly told Souji upon their latest addition.

Naoto interrogated the young women whilst they walked and was struck by the illogic of the situation, but was resigned to the situation until it came to its equally illogical conclusion. They chanced upon the tailor’s son, the brewer’s son, the lord’s son and his close companion the blacksmith’s son. Despite Naoto’s verbose warning, “I beg of you do not touch any of our party or you should come to regret it,” each one of them ended up part of the strange procession. This was very likely because Naoto’s warning was too lengthy and the trio of girls’ warning rather incoherent.

“Me and Mister Souji now have lots of friends!” giggled the golden bear. Souji nodded his head in agreement.

At long last they came to the city walls. Now the governor of the city was of a wealthy merchant clan who loved feasting and merriment. Within the past year his son had become listless and morose, the opposite of his usually boisterous self. Though the father was aware his son Yosuke was mourning the death of the brewer’s daughter, whom he had fancied and hoped to woo, but the dark mood lasted far longer than the normal mourning period. So distressed was he at his son’s condition that he decreed that whomever could make Yosuke laugh again should marry him.

That very morning Yosuke was on the veranda soberly watching the hustle and bustle of the city. Quite suddenly the queerest sight he had ever seen unfolded on the streets below him. A serious young man with a golden bear cub under his arm and a stumbling, tripping, laughing, shouting troupe of young people followed behind them as though stuck together. The young man walked from store to shop making polite inquiries all as if he did not notice anything unusual happening. So strange was this scene that Yosuke suddenly began to laugh before he could stop himself. He laughed so long and loud that his parents and the servants came to see what was the matter.

Souji was summoned to the governor’s palace that very afternoon and was quite surprised at his sudden change in fortune. At the sound of Yosuke’s laugh in the receiving hall the sound of tinkling bells chimed in the air and the group was suddenly unstuck – much to everyone’s relief save the bear cub who was dismayed.

As he rather fancied the sound of the young man’s laugh, his smile, and the appreciative look in those eyes, Souji decided he would indeed be interested in marrying the governor’s son. They were wed within a fortnight. The wedding was a fanfare of feasting and merriment, Souji’s unexpected friends were all asked to be part of the wedding party as was his cousin, and the bear cub chatted nonstop through the ceremony.

Although Souji never found himself in such a ridiculous predicament again he still found ways to make Yosuke smile and laugh and they were happy all their days.

**Author's Note:**

> A [yoriki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoriki) is an attendant to a samurai.
> 
> A [tengu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tengu) is a traditional Japanese monster.
> 
> A [cooper](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper_%28profession%29) is a maker of barrels.
> 
> A [samisen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamisen) is a traditional Japanese stringed instrument.


End file.
